euphrasyne

The big debate down in the deep south over tobasco vs cayenne usually is that tobasco adds heat without any flavor and cayenne adds heat with flavor, so you are changing the seasoning and the heat level with cayenne but only the heat level with tobasco. Never heard it the other way around. Interesting. I do know that it is a big debate down there and most people feel very strongly one way or another. Both peppers run 30k-50K scoville, so they are about the same amount of heat in general. If you want to make something hot....DH works with a guy from Nigeria. His wife grows hot peppers and gives us some. In return, I send a few hotter dishes their way. I have scorpion pepper, Carolina reaper, and ghost pepper that I either froze or put up in the last 2 years. Since they grow the hot peppers near the milder peppers, they cross pollinate and I do get a few hotter cayenne and bell peppers every now and again. I made Red Headed Chili (it is crazy hot and will mess with you) with some of the scotch bonnets and reapers awhile back and was told that it was delicious, hotter than H E double hockysticks--officially the hottest chili several of the 'yankee' coworkers had ever had, and please make more. Necie, there is never an upper limit on how much garlic goes in a dish. We eat a ton of it on everything.

That looks like a good recipe, Littlesister. I agree that hot sauce definately makes a difference. I've been making greens in the following manner without a written recipe for longer than my oldest kid has been alive--its how my Papaw taught me and we always used fresh greens from his garden: Collard, Mustard, or Turnip greens or any mix thereof: Dice bacon and onion. Can use any fatback, ham, or pork product on hand. Sauté in pot with garlic. Wash and tear or chop greens depending on level of involvement. Sauté leaves down a bit. Add chicken base or bullion, ACV, a good dash of hot sauce, (we like the cayenne based Louisiana or such better), a small spoon of brown or white sugar, and water to top of greens. Season with salt & pepper. Cook for a couple hours. Serve with hot pepper vinegar or spiced cane vinegar if you don't make your own hot pepper vinegar. Green beans can also be done in this method to a good result, but do not need to be cooked as long. This flavor is fairly common in Mississippi and Alabama. Most folks use a very similar variant of the recipe and I saw it at every BBQ, school function, or church potluck ever when living down there.

Everyone I know is sad that Bennet's Creek closed. The collards have been mentioned by many. Even my therapist brought up how sad he couldn't have them for Christmas so I gave him my recipe. I use onion, bacon, ACV among other things. Sometimes I do green beans the same way and it is really good. I think that the only reason I'm less sad about the closing is that I'm a good cook and do most things myself. They were really good by anyone's standards. We use too much sugar and not enough honey. I'd be more upset, but DH is down over 100 lbs since last year (he is now about 160 and 6' tall) with our current diet and wants to put on more muscle mass. I'm super proud of him, but a little jealous. I now outweigh him by about 20lbs. We both need to make some dietary and exercise changes. I'm too fat and he needs more muscle. We are both middle aged with limited mobility so that makes a difference. Dh's work has been doing potluck type food since the beginning of the month. I sent Italian beef to work with DH on Friday and they ate 100% of it; there were no leftovers. Score. He is slight on the praise, but says everyone says they liked it. I told him that women want more details than that, but he is a man and doesn't understand. I plan to make spinach nuggets for Monday and a few loves of bread for Tuesday. I explained that praise = more things made and no praise means less things made. Hopefully that will rouse his memory.

DH got a quart of honey from a coworker who works with him. Apparently they do bees. I now have some local honey.

I hate toll roads and tunnels. The first time I ever had a road toll was when I moved up here. We use them often now and the roads here in VA are no better than the 'free' ones in MS. I have no idea where the $ goes.

https://www.facebook.com/homesteadingfamily/videos/1429541294303708/ I watched this and thought it was worth sharing.

We have an EZ pass on every vehicle. MIL does not, and it still bills to this address. The amount difference is equivalent to 1:5 for us verses her for very pass through the tunnel. I do not care if they track me that way, but apparently she does and they do it anyway. She stays broke and unable to afford basic groceries. That is another difference between us. I would help her, but she once lived with us and would not communicate basic things other than negative. So now she lives with her brother and still cannot communicate anything worth knowing her son or granddaughters. Life lesson: you reap what you sow.

I like BJs. Their store brand is acceptable and they carry the items I need. The bonus over other membership stores is that BJs takes coupons --store coupons and manufacturers coupons. I find them slightly cheaper than Sams, way cheaper than costco as far as membership. If you wait to renew, you can usually get a 2 card membership (1 for DH, 1 for me) for $20 rather than the usual $55. We just renewed and the 'you let it expire' incentive to renew came in at $20 for the membership with $20 in 'rewards' applied to the card. Basically free. I drink a lot of green tea, the cheese is inexpensive, and the beef goes on sale for 4.99 or sometimes 3.99 for roast. They are also much cheaper on bulk junk food like chips, juice pouches, poptarts. Jerky is the lowest price anywhere but the Commissary. Diapers and formula are usually cheaper there also. As little sister said, they carry bulk amounts of normal sizes for a lot of things. Instead of 1 giant jar of sauce, you are buying 3 large/normal jars grouped together. Ceral is in normal boxes, but there will be 2 grouped in a bigger box. I was completely out of macaroni, had a coupon, kid was begging, so I bought a 16ct box of Kraft. One big box that opens into 16 grouped normal size boxes. It is much more convenient sizing for family use. They also carry books, seasonal house and toy items, clothing, shoes, and beer.

It is DH's RDO so we went to BJs and spent a fortune. I'm set on things for a few months. We also stopped in at a second hand children's store then went out to Outback for lunch. The toddler was fairly good throughout. Everyone commented on the matching ponchos we were wearing (I crocheted them around 20 years ago and hers is a hand-me-down through all the kids.) even 2 male clerks at BJs brought it up. It made me feel good about making them, but sad because my wrist doesn't allow quick or dexterous work anymore. I took a cooler with us so the cold stuff with be ok through lunch and put it away already. The rest of it is clogging up my dining room and entry way waiting on me to rest a bit before putting it up. DD15 came home, saw the pile of chips and cookies that need arranging into the stash (individual packs in bulk boxes for packing lunches) and told me 'that is the most beautiful pile I've ever seen.' Apparently I know my family and get the right stuff. That is a good feeling. Sometimes I divide bulk items into smaller containers, and sometimes the price of buying them already divided is better than dividing them myself. She then helped me put the rest of it up. Half of us want to skip dinner, and she is making a specific (easy) meal for her step-father. I am fortunate in my children. Yesterday DSD26 called and said she was engaged and wanted to wait until DD3 is travel worthy to set a date. We are thrilled. We can travel with DD3 at any time for this and I am excited that she is entering the next phase in her life. I hope for grandchildren that I can spoil and not raise soon.

Jam is easy. Sugar, fruit/veg pectin and spices. It is truly simple and quick. Pectin is necessary unless you intend to freeze it or use things like apple peels (which contain pectin) Pectin is what makes it jell. sugar makes fudge or taffy. cornstarch makes lemon pie or gravy. pectin makes jelly. It is a texture thing as I discussed with DD 15 yesterday. pectin is not especially expensive compared to buying jelly. You do not need to use it if making apple, lemon, plumb, cranberry, grape anything. Common usages of pepper jelly are over a brick of cream cheese as an appetizer or on meat as a condiment while cooking.

Just processed 3.5 pints of pepper jelly in 1/2 pint and 1/4 pint containers. 2 left to pop. I was going to add green food coloring, but decided to leave it a natural golden color with bits of green and red peppers floating in it. It is made of serrano and bell pepper and is very spicy. I'm happy with how it turned out so far. DD 15 helped and we talked about jelly, jam, preserves, conserves, marmalade, as well as distilling water and making cordial. All over all, it was a very productive session. I love passing along knowledge to a receptive audience. I used a new recipe, so we will see how it goes 6 months from now. Pepper Jelly (I am KNOWN to tamper with recipes--it is my 'thing'.) 2c minced peppers (I used several green serrano peppers, 1 green bell pepper, and 5 mini red bell peppers to make 2 c mince) 1 1/2 c ACV 6c sugar 4T pectin (I used 5 b/c it seemed to need it 3 were from my older bottle and 2 from the new bag) green food coloring (skipped) Boil vinegar. Add sugar, pectin. Dissolve. Add peppers. simmer 12+m (simmered 25m). Process 5m. (I did 8 because reasons) makes 6 1/2 pint or 12 1/4 pint. ( I got 3. 5 pints out of it exactly to the headspace--five 1/2 pints and four 1/4 pints.)

It is always sad when our fur babies move on. We had a rare date night last night. DD15 babysat and we went out to the comedy club to see J P Sears. Afterwards we went to listen to some live music by Steve Forss at the local bar. It was a good night and a rare one away from the house. One of the jokes he did was roughly "does anyone here do prepping? don't you kinda want something bad to happen after all that work? Its like you practice a sport your whole life and never play it." (basically the whole audience was cheering at the prepping bit. It was that sort of show/audience. )

DH is sick of turkey, and specifically requested hamburger with marinara. My choices are meatloaf or spaghetti. I'm not sure which way I'll tip tonight but it will be one of the two with green beans, mashed potatoes if meatloaf. We still have leftover apple tarts so that is dessert. They ate all the cherry tarts and claimed 'please please please make more cherry stuff.' That is new. I'm mostly stocked for apple and will need to lay in some cherry items. River (3) likes shredded mini wheat cereal. She thinks they are cookies. She will eat them dry as a snack --she got them out of the pantry and opened it herself. That is also new. Tonight or tomorrow I am going to can some hot pepper jelly with serrano peppers. I'm trying to decide if I want to use 1/2 c or 1 c jars.

What will be cooking for the next week? Leftovers du jour. I've got divided tupperware with 2 sections and more with 3 sections. I will make up several and freeze them for DH lunches.

Started a Cajun spiced turkey earlier. Yesterday I made ambrosia, apple and cherry cheesecake tarts, cheeseball, deviled eggs. Today I make green beans with mushrooms, rolls, sweet potatoes, dressing, cranberry sauce, onion gravy. I used to make green bean casserole, but I'm the only one left who likes that so I don't make it anymore. I'd make more if we had more people, but we have shrunk from 30 to 4. Things change over time. We will have leftovers forever now.

Everyone should do as they see fit. the life as an appoonant souldd seem as as nothing.

In all the places I've lived, you have to have a license even if it is on your own land. My family was avid hunters and some of them have been on the outs with the local game wardens. There can be serious consequences....everyone should choose their comfort and risk level. I think the various licenses are BS, but a family member lost his job over some game trouble.

Hunted meat isn't free. The 2A items, bows, arrows, hunting licenses--it costs more than it should. Don't forget all the 'hunting clothes', scent spray, beer, deer blinds, etc.

I was a vegetarian (lacto/ovo) for 7 years and a true vegan for a year. I've been back on the meat for a long time now. I feel better and am healthier when I eat meat. It is possible to do a very healthy vegan diet, but you have to be vigilant in eating proteins and not just carbs and too much soy in the diet causes a lot of estrogen problems--I had a lot of them. Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) are the best bean and can make basically anything including whipped cream (aquafaba). Indian food is a great way to experience veganism. Our local place, Rajput even has a Jain vegan menu. (Jains do not eat roots like garlic or potatoes because it kills the plant.) Sacrilege for me because there is no such thing as too much garlic in my household. However much garlic the recipe calls for, I add more. I've had no complaints on this ever.

Bear is extremely greasy and slightly sweeter than venison. It tends to look a bit like beef. I mostly either BBQ it with a strong sauce or put it in gumbo when I have it. I am strongly anti-bug. Other people can love them, but not me. I'd eat a cat first. (case in point I have had mountain lion--in a gumbo.)

I have a similar recipe that uses cocoa powder instead of Nesquik. HOT CHOCOLATE 1/2 c sugar 1/4 c cocoa dash salt 1/3 c hot water 4 c milk 3/4 tsp vanilla Combine sugar, cocoa, and salt; blend in water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture boils. Boil and stir 1 minute. Add milk, stir and heat till serving temperature. DO NOT BOIL! Remove from heat, add vanilla. Serve. I mix it up with the equivalent of powdered milk for the brand and heat it with hot water and almond extract instead of vanilla to serve. One of my huge cooking secrets is to use almond extract instead of vanilla extract with most sweets. It makes an amazing difference and people go crazy over it.

I will eat any animal not bugs or fish (allergic to fish). I highly recommend Game Cookbook by Geraldine Steindler. It is the best for hunters or wives of hunters. I've used it often over the years. I grew up in MS with a season for pretty much every animal and we ate them all. Squirrel smells and tastes similar to pork chops. If you cut it up first, you can lie. I don't recommend lying, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. When in doubt, make gumbo. Gumbo disguises all things. I had a friend who only made it when he had 7+ types of meat available.

My DH works for the Navy. For many decades now. His family mostly does the same. It is hard to imagine different. We talk about moving more inland and retiring to a bunker in the middle of the country, but who knows how that will play out. I hate sand and the beach. I grew up in a smaller city with family in the country. Real country where nothing was near but farmland. I miss that. I am doing a whole lot of nothing this weekend. DD3 has been getting up at 230am every night for the last 2 weeks and requiring me to sit with her for an hour to go back to bed. It is exhausting and I hope temporary.

The soup was good, a bit acidic, so I added a pinch of baking soda and a huge sprinkle of tropical sazon for seasoning. Last week I used the last of the 2020 beef roast in the crockpot. Everything else is 2022+. Apparently, I did mostly canning or dehydrating in 2021 and not much freezing. I haven't thawed anything for today, but I have a storebought cooked chicken in the fridge from yesterday's groceries. I'll do something with that. Cooked chicken is cheaper than raw chicken. It is crazy that way.

I have on a pot of leftover soup. I make it about every 2 months or so. Recipe: Throw every* (that makes sense) leftover in the fridge into the crockpot. Add water or broth. Add seasoning or extras as needed. Cook all day. It was a rough week and the family did not eat the leftovers well, so today we have soup. Deboned chicken leg quarters, peas, cheesy Mexican corn, chicken and potatoes in some sort of creamy sauce (I forget what I made), broccoli, half a box of off-brand velveeta. It looked like the basics for chicken enchilada soup to me, so I added in a quart of vegetable broth, a quart of poblano chicken broth, and some salsa. I'll add in some fajita seasoning or cumin later depending on how it tastes in a few hours. There was rice, stuffing, and field peas also, but I felt like people would eat these and that they would not do well with the rest.